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Some manufacturers have recently introduced “high-speed, low-draft” (HSLD) nitrogen applicators that use single-disc coulters instead of knives to place the fertilizer. The new applicators work at a shallower depth, and some manufacturers that make them say they are about sold out. View a photo gallery of some of the new high-speed applicators here.

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It used to be that growers who wanted to inject anhydrous ammonia in their fields basically had one option. Knives, fitted with nozzles and closing wheels, dug a furrow in the ground about 6 to 8 in. deep and filled it with fertilizer.

But recently, some manufacturers have introduced an alternative to this called “high-speed, low-draft” (HSLD) applicators that use single-disc coulters instead of knives to place the fertilizer. The new applicators work at a shallower depth, typically 3 to 5 in. Manufacturers that make them say they are about sold out.

“I can’t tell you how many calls I’ve fielded just this week for these coulter-only systems,” says Andy Thompson with Yetter Manufacturing, which makes the 2987 Magnum.

Dawn Equipment, which introduced the 6000 Anhydra applicator last fall, reports similar interest. “High-speed, coulter-only systems are in extremely high demand right now,” says Rodney Arthur, Dawn’s marketing director. “Our manufacturing plant is open 24 hours a day, six days a week, just to keep up with demand.”